Rough day at minicamp a learning experience for Cousins, Vikings

EAGAN, Minn. (KMSP) - Like anybody who just signed an $84 million contract, the Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has been in a pretty jovial mood of late.

That all changed Wednesday as the Minnesota offense saw starts and sputters in its second day of mandatory minicamp, with several interceptions and drops in the red zone highlighting a rough day for the first-year Viking. Thursday is the last day of minicamp before the team breaks for the summer, and though Cousins says he'll spend much of the offseason working to learn the team's offense he also says that after six seasons in the NFL one of the most important lessons he's learned is to take it easy on himself and beware of burning out midseason.

"Last year we got to week two and because of how hard I'd been grinding all camp and all summer, I felt like we were in week 12," he said after practice Wednesday. "Because I feel a little behind the eight-ball learning this offense I do need to be in it every day. But there also needs to be a healthy balance of getting away, catching your breath, getting a change of scenery knowing that when we come back in July we still have six more weeks before week one."